(Haptic) Marking for better pronunciation: Going through the motions

If you are a dancer, you'll get this one! Dance instruction and the dance "mind set" have long been two of my favourite analogues to pronunciation work. According to Warburton, Wilson, Lynch and Cuykendall of University of California, Santa Cruz, reported by Science Daily, the "conflict between the cognitive and physical aspects of dance practice" is central to highly artistic performance. A new study suggests an intriguing remedy: dance marking (where the routine was done in slow or slower motion) " . . . essentially . . . a run-through of the dance routine, but with a focus on the routine itself, rather than making the perfect movements." (emphasis, mine.) 

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Furthermore, according to the researchers, "Smaller scale movement systems with low energetic costs such as speech, sign language, and gestures may likewise accrue cognitive benefits, as might be the case in learning new multisyllabic vocabulary or working on one's accent in a foreign language."

Previous posts have reported similar "marking" systems by "power learning" practitioners,  athletes, actors and weightlifters. In haptic pronunciation work, "marking" is done by using movement and touch to in some sense rehearse and anchor any aspect of the pronunciation. To get an idea of how this works, get a copy of the Guide to AH-EPS, which is part of the Instructor's Package. (See the GETONIC tag at the top of the right hand column.) Another way to get one is to join IAHICPR for a year and I'll send you a PDF copy, free!

Thinking (and learning pronunciation) outside the brain

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Dynamic or "external" imagery (imagery accompanied by synchronized, related body movement rehearsal) boosted high jumpers' jumping by an amazing 45%, according to a study by Guillot, Moschberger and Collet. of the Centre de Recherche et d'Innovation sur le Sport of Université Claude Bernard Lyon, summarized in Science Daily. This is a very relevant study for HICP work. Here you have the cognitive/visual "object" or process, in this case jumping over a bar positioned about 7 feet above the ground, explicitly coordinated with external physical "practice."

That is the essence of how effective, haptic-integrated or embodied change in pronunciation in general,  should happen as well. The concept, a sound or word or expression, is well linked to its "felt sense" (what it feels like in the body to say or produce it) and a pedagogical movement pattern that haptically (with movement and touch) not only helps coordinate or link the brain and body, but also, itself, in some way embodies the fundamental character or essence of the target.

For example, the rising pitch of a yes/no question would be accompanied by 

• not just by an ascending gesture 
• but one that is positioned in the visual field by movement and touch 
• such that the height corresponds to relative pitch of the utterance. 

In addition, the prominent vowel in the stressed word in the phrase 

• would have been previously somatically grounded (so that the physical sensations involved are brought strongly to awareness
• and can be described in terms of location and intensity) 
• and practiced,  focusing on its textural quality, e.g., roughness, softness, smoothness, stickiness.  

Not to "raise the bar" too high when it comes to integrated pronunciation teaching, but this is one time when being a bit outside the current, generally "disembodied" approach to what we do is actually something of a "no-brainer!" 

Native-like pronunciation? You must be dreaming . ..

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In a widely publicized study by Dresler and Czisch of the Max Plank Institute, it was discovered that when we dream we are moving . . . our brain responds as if our body is, in fact,  fully engaged in the activity.  The research suggests that movements experienced in dreams may then be carried out more "fluently" when consciously performed later.

Many who learn to speak an L2 reasonably well, myself included, recall those first nights when they began dreaming in the L2. It generally comes as a surprise, often suggesting fluency and expressiveness far beyond where one is in reality. The brain is, obviously, practicing for us, rehearsing what is ahead. Although the same process may relate as well to pronunciation change attempted with mouth and mind only,  you'd think that full-bodied, engagement should make for at least more "moving" dreams, near "somnabulantic" or even some "hapticulantic" episodes! Pronunciation like a native speaker? Dream on!

Reflecting on "deliberate practice" vs rote repetition in pronunciation teaching

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Here is a nice presentation by Brabeck and Jeffrey (2007) on what they term "Practice for knowledge acquisition" that uses the term, deliberate practice, in summarizing the research literature on potentially repetitive classroom practice. The key to deliberative practice is said to be: ". . . goal-directed rehearsal paired with reflection on problem-solving processes." For example, the "goal" of practicing the "th" sound is not to pronounce it correctly but the words in which it happens, in the contexts in which the word occurs. More important, however, is the place or quality of reflection in HICP/EHIEP, as opposed to the usual pronunciation class approach.

Typically, reflection, that is conscious attention to goal of practice, happens primarily before the repetition exercises and after, as follow up. In EHIEP, the critical role of attention occurs during articulation and oral practice, in the form of the "felt sense" of the sound being anchored. As discussed exhaustively in earlier posts, that is possible due to the nature of haptic anchoring and how that anchoring is available for recall without inordinately interfering with spontaneous speech and meaning creation.

We need a new term, one that captures the function of reflection in making practice relevant (deliberate) but from a haptic perspective. How about "hapticulation" or "hapticoflection" or "hapticonation?" Anyway. Reflect on that and post your haptical-somatic impressions here!